Rail-brake



(No Model.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 1. -J. T. HALL.

RAIL BRAKE.

Patented June 11, 1895.

'(NoModeL) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2. .J. T. HALL.

RAIL BRAKE.

' No. 541,045 Patented June 11, 1895.

E II

I Li I v (No Modei.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3. J. T. HALL.

RAIL BRAKE.

No. 541,045. Patented June 11, 1895.

niiiinmmnn mm 11'?" u:

NITE STATES P TENT @rrrcn.

JAMES T. HALL, or SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

RAl L-BRA'KE.

SPECIFICATION fprming' part of Letters Patent No. 541,045 dated June 11, 1895.

Application filed August 24,

E0 M3 whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES T. HALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brake Mechanism for Electric-Railway Cars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of said invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it most nearly appertains to make, use, and practice the same.

This invention has relation to certain new and useful improvements in rail brake mechanism for electric railway cars, which consists in the arrangement of parts and details of construction as will be hereinafter more fully set forth in the drawings, described and pointed out'in the specification.

In the ordinary electric railway car the brake shoes are applied to the periphery of the wheels, in order to bringthe car to a standstill or reduce the speed thereof. This manner of applying the brake shoes causes considerable Wear of the wheels, which, in time, flattens the periphery'of the wheels in places and creates .a pounding thereof. Owing to the fact that the truck frames project beyond the sides of the car for such a distance as to place the same considerably out of line with the rails, it has heretofore been found impracticable to apply the'b'rake shoes directly to the face of the rails. This manner of applying the brake shoes of a cable car is accomplished, but, owing to the limited space beneath an electric car, the mechanism which operates the cable car brakes cannot be utilized for electric cars. .I have ascertained that by making employment of supplemental frames and connecting the brake mechanism thereto, locating the frames between the truck frames and in line with the rails, the brake shoes may be applied directly to the rails.

The object of the invention is to overcome undue wearupon the periphery of the car wheels, whereby pounding thereof, may be overcome by applying the brake shoes directly to the surface of the. rails.

Referring to the drawings forming a part of this application, Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of an electric car, showing my brake mechanism secured thereto, viewed 1894. Serial No. 521,238-

(No model.)

from the outside of the car. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail View, side elevation, of the connecting-link-rod for the toggle-joint levers. Fig. 3 is a topplan view of the connecting link-rod. Fig. t is a view in side elevation of the brake mechanism viewed from the inside. Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view in elevation, taken on line x :10, Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a similar view on line y y, Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is asimilar view on line 2 z, Fig. 1; and Fig. 8 is a top plan view showing the running-gear of a car with the brake mechanism connected thereto; 7

The letter A is used to indicate the side sills or beams of the car floor frame of an ordinary electric railway car, and A thetruck frames placed at either side thereof, beneath the fioor frame. The frames project beyond the sides of the car and rails, being united by the tie'or cross rods B, these parts being of the usual construction.

For the purpose of placi'ngthe brake shoes in line with the rails B, itis necessary to provide the supplement or brake frames, which frames consist of the plates or bars 0, O, the ends of which are bent downward, as shown in Fig. 1. These frames are supported-by the tie rods, being located between the truck frames so as be directly over the track rails. The supplemental frame plates I strengthen and prevent from springing apart'by means of the longitudinal rods C ,-which unite the curved ends of said rods or plates of the frames.

Between the plates of the supplemental frames I secure the downwardly extending supporting blocks D, the arm D of which is fastened to the truck frame, Fig. 6. From rods I fasten the levers c, which are secured to the curved end of the supplemental frame plates by bolts c';-while the inner ends I connect to the supporting blocks by lovers (1, the

lower end of said levers being held between these blocks I suspend the brake shoe frames IOC the slotted end of the triangular head portion a of the link rod 1) by pins 0 and upper end to said supporting blocks by pins d, thus forming a toggle joint connection between the supplemental frames, supporting blocks and brake shoe frames,which, when straightened or loosened by the longitudinal movement of the link rods 1), applies the brake shoes against the rails or removes the same therefrom.

The link rods 12 are forced in or out by the vertical movement of the triangular plate E, which moves between the guide standards E, which are bolted between the supplemental frames and longitudinal side rods 0 Fig. 5. These guide rods are secured at about the center of the frames. The plate E, I connect with the triangular end of link rods 1) by levers 6. See Figs. 1 and 4.. This plate is raised and lowered through the medium of link or strap e, which connects same with crank arm or lever E, which is connected to rock shaft E As this shaft is rocked, the said plate E is raised and lowered, being maintained in place by the guide standards E. The raising of this plate tends to cause the levers e to as su me a parallel position, the movement of which forces the link rods b outward, causing the toggle joint connections between the brake shoe frames, supplemental frames and supporting blocks to straighten out, thereby tightly forcing the brake shoes against the rails and bringing the car to a standstill; for, inasmuch as the toggle joint connection is the most powerful known, it is obvious that as the toggle connections straighten, either the car must come to a dead stop, or the car will be raised clear of the rails. As the triangular plates move downward, toggle connection is broken or released, which moves the break shoe frames and shoes clear of the rails.

The brake mechanism is operated from either end of the car by the motor-man or conductor, through the medium of the fulcrumed levers F, only one being shown. The lower ends of said levers, which project below the car body, have connected thereto the outer ends of rods F, the inner ends of the rods being fastened to crank arms or levers F secured to rock shaft or rod E", Fig. 8. As the connecting rod F is forced in or out by the forward or backward throw of the levers F, the crank arm or lever F is carried therewith, which moves the rock shaft so as to raise or lower the crank arms or levers E for the purpose of operating the brake mechanism, as before described.

The levers F may be held in any desired position by means of the pawl f, which engages with the teeth of the quadrant f, said rod being thrown in or out of engagement with the teeth of the quadrant by spring rod f The curved ends of the supplemental frame plates are connected together by plates II, from which upwardly extends the bracket H, said bracket being bolted to the truck frames, for the purpose of holding the. supplemental frames rigidly in place.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure protection in by Letters Patent, is

1. In an electric railway car, the combination with the truck frame comprising side bars supported by the journal boxes, of brake frames comprising a plurality of parallel bars of a length less than the distance between the wheels, brake mechanism supported by and between the parallel bars, cross rods supporting the parallel bars, and lateral projections connecting the parallel bars with the truck frame bars, substantially as described.

2. In an electric railway car, the combination with the truck frame, of independent frames located between the side bars of the truck frame and in line with the wheels, cross rods supporting the independent frames and spanning the truck frame, brake mechanism supported in the independent frames, and lateral connections between the independent frames and the side bars of the truck frame, substantially as described.

3. In an electric railway car, the combination with the truck frame comprising side bars, of supplemental frames located between the wheels and comprisiuga plurality of yokeshaped bars extending respectively above and below the truck frame, cross bars carried by the truck frame supporting the supplemental frames, brake mechanism independent of the truck frame and carried by the supplemental frames, and rigid lateral connections between the side bars of the truck frame and the sup- 

